


Rêverie

by fightforyourwrite



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Based on a song, Daydreams, Gen, Introspection, Lawyers, Other, Rain, Reincarnation, Train Rides
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-20
Updated: 2017-09-20
Packaged: 2018-12-31 21:40:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12141720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fightforyourwrite/pseuds/fightforyourwrite
Summary: Rico Brzenska lives while lost in her daydreams.





	Rêverie

**Author's Note:**

> I've really had enough of Rico being left out of reincarnation AUs. Just saying.

What remained of her life felt misplaced in the clouds of November.

With the morning time came frigid air. It liked to nip at her cheeks whenever she stepped outside and seeped into every corner of her apartment.

Rain had a habit of falling down from the sky, it didn’t matter how many days in a row it had come before. The clouds casted a lifeless grey upon the surface of the city and into the eyes of its citizens.

Despite of everything, Rico woke up to the sound of bells chiming from her phone. The cold had spread to her bed, creeping underneath her covers and leaving a numbness in her toes. She could barely feel them as she pulled herself out from underneath the blanket and stepped onto the carpeted floor.

After putting on the browline glasses on her nightstand, Rico spared a moment of her morning to pull back the curtains and to catch a glimpse of the world outside. To no surprise, it was raining like every day before.

Rain left a lingering feeling inside of Rico’s heart, as if there was something more than she wanted from the day, but something she could not get nor recognize no matter how hard she tried.

Perhaps due to it being morning time, the once heavy droplets had reduced into a much lighter drizzle. Nevertheless, the chances of things intensifying into a downpour were still great.

With that in mind, Rico carried on with her routine and prepared herself for what she hoped would be an ordinary Wednesday.

She made sure to eat until she felt full before getting changed into office attire. Right after she pulled on her shoes, she made sure to grab the umbrella near her front door before heading outside.

The walk from her apartment building to the train station was as manageable as it was on every other day. The sprinkling precipitation scattered dampness onto her umbrella and collected on the edges of her raincoat.

The commute to the city was always painless. For twenty-five minutes, she would remain seated as the motion of the train blurred the scenery outside of the glass window.

Rico gravitated towards sharing sitting space with other professionals, people who were dressed to the nines and more focused on their devices than the others around them.

She wasn’t ashamed to say that she was one of them. She thrived in their world of tailored suits, dress shoes, long meetings, and stuffy elevator rides.

Like those sitting around her, Rico answered emails for the ride. Her headphones would always remain in her ears as they played whatever solo piano piece she was fancying that day. She did have a soft spot for the impressionistic composers of the 20th century.

It was easy to find the simplicity in her existence. At her age, things certainly were not bad for her. She had a job that kept the lights of her apartment on and put clothes on her back. The stresses of her university days were nothing but a faint memory to her, having left to make room for the stresses of her adult life.

Now her lectures on romance languages and hours spent studying in cafes were gone, all to be replaced by commutes to the city and sessions spent analyzing case profiles.

Sometimes Rico wondered where she would be if the choices she made in her youth had deviated even just slightly.

Perhaps if law school admissions hadn’t worked out as well for her, she would have busied herself by immersing herself in the field of her undergrad.

Linguistics was a compelling major to have. The anthropological origins of language was something she felt privileged to study while she could.

The idea of going further into subject often fascinated Rico. She thought of her grad school years being spent looking over the Sanskrit influences in Old Javanese, instead of being spent memorizing legal procedures in North America.

Rico never looked down on that different kind of life. It was tempting to get lost in the possibilities of what could have been, the ideas of her that could have come into existence had her choices and circumstances diverged just slightly.

But it was hard for Rico to ponder about a different existence for too long. The train would often arrive at the city and break her out of her existential thoughts before she got way too lost in them.

* * *

 

Rico’s office stood dozens of floors above the city and had a brisk atmosphere to it. Immersing herself into her work was the only thing she could do there.

Career-related tasks left little time for Rico to think of anything else on office hours. She was often busy going over case files with partners or having discussions in meeting rooms.

But that didn’t stop her from letting her mind wander when it could, whether it be at lunch or at a moment alone at her desk.

The ideas that Rico envisaged during her own private moments were interesting, ideas relating to her true purpose in the world.

Perhaps her life was made to work in the field of corporate law. It was a small role in the string of everything, but a role she could fulfill nonetheless.

Though the only reason Rico took the job was because it was one that she was offered right after graduated law school. The only reason she stayed with it was because she liked to keep the water in her apartment running.

But Rico was a dutiful person, she felt as if that trait of hers was ingrained into her every fibre. She could put hard work into any job she was given, it didn’t matter how big or small. It was something that she was sure she could do in every walk of her life, everything from past to present.

Sometimes Rico dreamt of a world where her role was a lot bigger.

The idea of that world danced in her mind during moments of slumber, a world best lived with a sense of duty, nerve, and bravery.

Perhaps that kind of world meant more to Rico than it let on. It liked to come to her in glimpses, brief dreams of a different life every few or so nights.

A world of enormous walls and terrifying beasts danced in her head. Roses of red were painted on her back and green capes flowed in the wind as she flew through the air.

For the life of her, Rico could never understand what that world was. She could never pin a name to the call she answered to or the monsters she fought with swords in both hands.

It was confusing to think of a place like that, a place that would linger in her even if she focused her thoughts into something else. It felt like it was laid into her heart, written into her skin, and fabricated into her soul.

It was difficult for her to forget that world, as it was something much closer to a memory than it could ever be a dream.

* * *

 It started to rain in the middle of the work day. By the time Rico came back to her office after lunch, every inch of the city was soaked by the droplets from above. The business district was no exception, as Rico witnessed her co workers walking back in from coffee-runs and errands absolutely soaked.

Things transitioned smoothly like every day before. Rico worked, went through an ungodly amount of paperwork and documents, and finished the day as normal.

Her raincoat kept her safe from the falling raindrops as she left the building. Little bits of water collected on the lenses of her glasses, fogging them up and making it harder for her to see in the dark evening.

Coming to the train station was simplistic as ever. The platform was soaked with rain as Rico walked across it, boarding the train set to leave momentarily.

It was emptier than it was in the morning before.

Her headphones were plugged into her ears as Rico entered the train. She found a spot on the upper section and made a place for herself at quartet of unoccupied seats.

Rico was alone as the train pulled from the station, with the exception of a handful of people scattered around the various seats.

Evening commutes in the latter months of the year were particularly eerie for her. There was a stretch of several months where it was compulsory for Rico to commute home in near or complete darkness, something that she wished she could get more comfortable with.

The scenery outside was dark, like the colour of every surface had been sucked away and muted into dim hues. Apparatuses of docks and city establishments illuminated long streaks of light onto the darkened water.

Rico cleaned the droplets of water off her glasses as she faced the window. She put them back on momentarily and her vision came into clarity once again.

In front of her, someone sat in one of the available seats.

On instinct, Rico did her best to make room for him. The items she had placed on the table – her satchel, a cup of rooibos from a nearby cafe – were quickly tugged to her side of the surface with a simple pull.

Rico looked up and caught a glimpse of the guy’s eyes. As he sat down, he gave her a brief but solid glance. Immediately, he focused on the window as well, as it was the only interesting thing on the train if someone didn’t have a device with them.

When Rico got a good look at the stranger, she blinked once and twice again.

Something inside of her hitched, whether it be the air in her throat or in a part of her mind that was easy to get lost in.

There was something she could see in the stranger’s golden eyes and locks of dark blond hair. She looked at him and she could imagine a heavy, conscientious look taking control of his eyes, or hearing a steadfast voice coming from his mouth.

When Rico looked at him, she could feel herself being taken to the place that she swore was a memory. She thought of the world of walls and crossed swords, the place of roses and giants, the feeling of duty and bravery burdened upon her heart.

For a moment, his eyes moved away from the moving scenery of the window and to her. When he noticed her staring, a quick and courteous smile came upon his face, only to disappear once he focused on the window again. He was being polite, she could see that in him.

Rico took her headphones out of her ears. She looked the strange man of golden eyes and said the first words on her mind.

_“Excuse me, but have we met before?”_


End file.
